U.S. Law Firm Files OECD Complaint Against Global Firm Chapman-Taylor Over Alleged Conduct & Redesign Of Historic Armenian City Of Shushi In Occupied Artsakh

Kerkonian Dajani LLP submitted a complaint on July 30 with the National Contact Point in the United Kingdom, alleging breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by the global architectural firm Chapman Taylor. Filed on behalf of the Avan Shushi Partnership, the complaint alleges that Chapman Taylor’s conduct in redesigning Shushi violated OECD Guidelines by failing to mitigate, and instead contributing to, the adverse human rights impacts suffered by the indigenous Artsakh Armenians.

This complaint comes in the aftermath of Azerbaijan’s 286-day blockade and the September 2023 forced displacement of the Artsakh Armenians, which Freedom House firmly concluded was ethnic cleansing. During Azerbaijan’s nine-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urgently reported that the president of Azerbaijan exhibited clear genocidal intent against the Artsakh Armenians. Genocide Watch, the Lemkin Institute, and the International Association of Genocide Scholars issued their own genocide alerts.

The Avan Shushi Partnership, which owns the Avan Shushi Hotel & Tourist Center in Shushi, alleges that Chapman Taylor was engaged to redesign Shushi shortly after the Azerbaijani military took control of the historically Armenian city in November 2020. During its work, Chapman Taylor actively determined the fate of structures within Shushi, even marking buildings and homes for demolition.

“It is clear that our hotel was modified, repurposed, and rebranded; and this was done without our approval or consent,” states Alec Baghdasaryan, Avan’s lead partner. His concerns are wider: “The countless images of the destruction of Armenian property, including the homes, churches, and cemeteries of the Artsakh Armenians, are painful to bear. This is a complete and utter travesty for which there should be accountability.”

The complaint alleges that Chapman Taylor proceeded undeterred with its work in Shushi amidst ongoing human rights abuses. Avan Shushi claims that Chapman Taylor’s conduct did not comply with the OECD compliance regime, which requires multinational enterprises to recognize and mitigate human rights risks associated with their operations. The complaint asserts that Chapman Taylor’s OECD violations occurred amidst Azerbaijan’s systematic erasure of the Armenian people, presence, and heritage of Shushi, and that the design firm did not employ any leverage to try to mitigate adverse human rights impacts, as required under the OECD Guidelines.

“Azerbaijan has been openly engaged in a blatant campaign to remove the indigenous Armenian people—and now their heritage and history—from Artsakh. Azerbaijan’s impunity in this regard is patently unmitigated,” asserted Karnig Kerkonian, Partner at Kerkonian Dajani LLP. “Under the OECD Guidelines, multinational enterprises are provided clear and detailed parameters by which to measure their own actions and associations, especially when it comes to fundamental human rights and, in particular, as it relates to the recognition and mitigation of adverse human rights impacts.”

The OECD complaint mechanism has been increasingly utilized by human rights advocates to seek accountability measures for multinational enterprises. This matter against Chapman Taylor was submitted to the U.K. National Contact Point in London on July 25, 2024.

For further information and details regarding the matter, please visit http://KerkonianDajani.com.